ISSN: 2347-3215 Volume 3 Number 5 (May-2015) pp. 145-152
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Effect of planting time on growth and flowering of Gladiolus
Tanya Thakur1, K. K. Dhatt2 and Shahnawaz Ahmed3*
1,2
3
Dept of Floriculture and Landscaping, PAU Ludhiana 141004, India
Division of Fruit Science, PAU Ludhiana 141004, India
*Corresponding author
KEYWORDS
A B S T R A C T
Gladiolus,
Genotypes,
Environments
The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of five
environments i.e. 10th October, 25th October, 10th November, 25th November
and 10th December, 2011 on growth and floral characters of twelve gladiolus
genotypes. The minimum days to sprouting of corms (10.38 days) and longest
spike length (81.20 cm) was recorded under 10th October. The floret size and
number of florets per spike were maximum under 10th November planting
(8.62 cm and 13.57). Among the genotypes, earliest sprouting was in cv.
Punjab Glance (7.95days) and maximum spike length was recorded in cv.
Punjab Flame (90.84 cm). Cultivar Red Advance gave the biggest florets
(9.24 cm) and cv. Punjab Pink Elegance gave the highest florets count per
spike (14.04). Hence, it was concluded that early planting from 10th October
to 10th November gave better results with respect to growth and floral
characters in all the gladiolus genotypes.
Introduction
Gladiolus is an important bulbous crop
which occupies important position among
cut flowers in domestic as well as
international market. The development and
selection of suitable genotypes is an
important factor that determines successful
cultivation of gladiolus under different agroclimatic conditions. Phenotype in addition to
the inherent make up is greatly influenced
by environmental conditions as well as
interaction
between
genotype
and
environment. In the plains of North India,
quality spikes can be produced by
planting suitable variety during September-
November (Arora and Khanna, 1985). Thus
to evaluate a variety for early, mid and late
planting season, this can be achieved either
through suitable variety which can perform
well on staggered planting or variety
suitable for planting in different time of
growing season.
Materials and Methods
The present investigation was undertaken in
the experiment farm area of Floriculture and
Landscaping
Department,
Punjab
145
Agricultural University, Ludhiana, during
2011-2012. The experimental material
comprised of 12 gladiolus genotypes viz.
Punjab Flame, Punjab Pink Elegance,
Punjab Glance, Punjab Lemon Delight,
Sylvia, Suchitra, CPG, Jacksonville Gold,
Red Advance, Red Beauty, Fidelio and Rose
Supreme planted under five different
planting times i.e. 10th October, 25th
October, 10th November, 25th November and
10th December, 2011. The genotypes were
sown as per Randomized Block Design
(RBD) with three replications. Corms were
planted at spacing of 30x20 cm with plot
size of 2.4 m2 and standard package were
followed to raise the crop. For
morphological analysis the genotypes were
evaluated for 5 traits viz. days taken to
sprouting of corms, days taken to flowering,
spike length, number of florets per spike and
floret size.
Pink Elegance (8.90 days). The maximum
time was taken by cv. Suchitra (16.45 days)
followed by Rose Supreme (14.47 days).
The results show that the genotypes took
more time to sprout as the planting time was
delayed. The days taken to sprouting of
corms ranges from 10.57 to 14.74 days. The
minimum time of 10.57 days was recorded
in 10th October planting followed by third
planting (13.03 days). These results are in
close conformity with the findings of Saini
et al. (1988) in which late sprouting was
observed under delayed planting.
The time taken to sprouting of corms by
twelve genotypes in five different
environment ranges from 5.60 to 19.00 days.
The minimum time was taken by cv. Punjab
Glance (5.60 days) under first planting.
Cultivar Suchitra took the longest time to
sprout (19.00 days) under fifth planting.
Result and Discussion
The sprouting of corms presents significant
variation due to genotype and planting time.
Punjab Glance was earliest to sprout
irrespective of planting dates as compared to
other varieties. The variety Punjab Glance
took minimum time to sprout in 1st planting
(10th October) and also in last planting (10th
December). In December planting it took
9.46 days and it was almost double than that
of October planting. This indicates that
sprouting of corms is affected by prevailing
temperature at time of planting. It is
pertinent to mention here that during
October to November the average
temperature ranges between 24.8-19.4 0C
respectively which was optimum for corm
sprouting (Arora and Sandhu, 1987). The
results also show that varieties CPG and
Punjab Flame were comparatively late under
all plantings, which might be due to
individual genetic makeup of the varieties.
These results justify the findings of Sidhu
(1989).
Days taken to sprouting of corms
Data presented in the Table 1 reveals the
days taken to sprouting of corms by
different
genotypes
under
different
environments.
Cultivar Punjab Glance was the earliest to
sprout irrespective of planting dates. Under
first planting on 10th October it took 5.60
days to sprout. Cultivar Punjab Flame
followed by Jacksonville Gold took the
maximum days to sprout (13.60 and 12.73
days) under first planting. Under second,
third, fourth and fifth planting cv. Suchitra
took longest time to sprout ranging from
14.96 to 19.00 days.
The twelve genotypes took 7.95 to 16.45
days to the sprouting of corms. Cultivar
Punjab Glance took 7.95 days and was
earliest to sprout followed by cv. Punjab
146
Flame under 10th October planting followed
by 25th October planting (128.46 and 125.46
days respectively).
Days taken to flowering
Data embodied in the Table 2 reveals that
effect of genotypes, environment and
genotype x environment interaction was
significant with respect to days taken from
planting to flowering.
Spike length
Data embodied in Table 3 indicates that
there was significant effect of genotypes,
environments and genotype environments
interaction on spike length.
The present study indicates that in October
planting, cv. Punjab Glance took the
minimum time to flowering (77.12 days)
while in November and December planting
cv. Rose Supreme took the minimum time to
flowering ranging from 76.89 to 81.7 days.
Punjab Flame, CPG, Punjab Lemon Delight
were late to flower under all the
environments.
The results indicate that cv. Punjab Flame
followed by Punjab Pink Elegance produced
the longest spike under all the planting
times. Cultivar Rose Supreme recorded the
minimum spike length under all plantings
ranging from 59.34 to 74.99 cm.
The days taken to flowering ranges from
87.13 to 116.64 days in twelve gladiolus
genotypes. The earliest flowering was
reported in cv. Rose Supreme (87.13 days)
followed by cv. Punjab Glance (89.34 days)
and Suchitra (92.71days). The longest time
to flower was taken by cv. Punjab Flame
(116.64 days) followed by cv. Sylvia
(115.97 days).
The spike length ranges from 66.30 to 90.84
cm in twelve genotypes of gladiolus. The
maximum was recorded in cv. Punjab Flame
(90.84 cm) and the shortest spike was
reported in cv. Fidelio (66.30.cm).
The spike length ranges from 65.95 to 81.20
cm under different planting times. The
longest spike was recorded under 10th
October planting and the spike length
reduced as planting time was delayed. The
minimum length was recorded under 10th
December planting. Nijasure and Ranpise
(2005) also reported that planting of
gladiolus corms on 15 October was optimum
for better flower in terms of spike length.
In present investigation, under different
planting times, the time taken to flowering
ranges from 97.30 days to 108.27 days. The
earliest flowering was reported in December
planting which took 97.30 days followed by
10th October planting. The genotypes took
maximum time to flower under 25th October
planting (108.27 days). The time taken to
flowering in twelve genotypes under
different environments ranges from 77.12 to
128.46 days. Dod et al. (1989) reported that
under late planting emergence of spike was
observed earlier.
The spike length of twelve genotypes under
five different plantings ranges from 60.44 to
100.35 cm. The maximum was reported in
cv. Punjab Flame (100.35 cm) under 10th
October planting followed by 25th October
planting. The shortest spike was reported in
cv. Fidelio (60.44 cm) under 10th December
planting.
The earliest flowering was reported in cv.
Punjab Glance (77.12 days) under 10th
October planting followed by Rose Supreme
(76.89 days) under 25th November planting.
The maximum time was taken by cv. Punjab
In the present studies it has been observed
that planting time significantly influenced
the spike length. The spike length increased
147
under October planting and decreased
significantly under December planting. The
better spike length may be attributed to the
prevalence of favourable environmental
conditions at time of planting from October
to November, when the maximum and
minimum temperature is around 32.1 0C and
12.5 0C respectively. The plant develops
better root system and luxuriant growth by
quantities
of
photosynthates
under
favourable conditions whereas, in late
planting, plant establishment and growth is
poor due to low temperature in December.
However, the present experiment also
presents a wide range of variation for spike
length among the varieties. Such a wide
variation for this character is mainly due to
genetic nature confirming the earlier reports
in gladiolus (Singh et al., 2000).
minimum floret size was in cv. Jacksonville
Gold (7.51 cm) which is at par with cv.
Sylvia (7.94 cm). Pasannavar (1994) also
recorded minimum floret diameter in cv.
Sylvia.
The floret size ranges from 8.11 to 8.62 cm
in five different environments. The
maximum floret size was observed in first
planting (8.62 cm) which is at par with
fourth planting (8.44 cm). The florets size
decreased under late planting time. Arora
and Sandhu (1987) reported bigger floret
size under late planting of 1st November.
The floret size ranges from 6.88 to 9.83 cm in
twelve genotypes under five different
environments. Cultivar Red Advance
produced the biggest florets under fourth
planting (9.83 cm). The smallest florets were
produced by cv. Jacksonville Gold under
second planting (6.88 cm).
Floret size
Data presented in the Table 4 reveals that
effect of genotypes, environment and
genotype x environment interaction was
significant with respect to floret size.
In the present investigation it was observed
that var. Red Beauty and Red Advance
produced the bigger florets irrespective of
planting time. There were no significant
differences during first three plantings i.e.
10th October to November, but the floret size
reduced significantly as the planting was
delayed beyond 25th November. The
difference for florets size under late
plantings was non-significantly lower than
earlier plantings.
The results indicated that under first planting
the maximum floret size was recorded in cv.
Punjab Glance (9.31 cm). Cultivar Red
Beauty (9.38 cm) produced the biggest
florets under second planting followed by
cv. Suchitra (8.69 cm). Cultivar Red
Advance produced the biggest florets under
November and December plantings ranging
from 9.51 to 9.83 cm. The smallest florets
were produced by cv. Jacksonville Gold
under October to November plantings
ranging from 6.88 to 7.67 cm. Cultivar
Fidelio under 10th December planting
produced smallest florets (7.41 cm).
In this experiment cv. Sylvia and
Jacksonville Gold gave the smaller florets.
This variation of size in different varieties
might be due to genetic contribution of
varieties under observation.
Number of florets per spike
Data presented in Table 5 revealed that there
was significant difference due to genotypes,
environment and genotype environment
interaction exhibited significant differences
for number of florets per spike.
The floret size in twelve genotypes ranges
from 7.51 to 9.24 cm. The biggest floret was
recorded in cv. Red Advance (9.24 cm)
which is at par with cv. Red Beauty (9.05
cm) and Punjab Glance (8.85 cm). The
148
Table.1 Effect of genotype and planting time on days taken to sprouting of corms
Genotypes
Planting time
10 Oct
25 Oct
10 Nov
25 Nov
10 Dec
Mean
12.00
13.00
13.66
15.23
15.93
13.96
CPG
10.26
11.00
12.93
16.00
16.93
13.42
Fidelio
10.20
10.46
12.00
12.26
13.46
11.68
Punjab Lemon Delight
13.60
13.73
13.13
13.60
15.33
13.88
Punjab Flame
9.73
10.53
12.06
12.80
13.13
11.65
Red Beauty
7.00
7.93
9.06
9.86
10.66
8.90
Punjab Pink Elegance
11.20
12.80
13.73
16.20
16.66
14.12
Sylvia
5.60
6.93
8.63
9.13
9.46
7.95
Punjab Glance
12.46
14.93
14.56
14.60
14.93
14.30
Red Advance
12.73
12.93
12.53
14.13
14.46
13.36
Jacksonville Gold
11.12
12.26
15.80
16.20
17.00
14.47
Rose Supreme
11.02
14.96
18.33
18.93
19.00
16.45
Suchitra
10.57
11.78
13.03
14.07
14.74
_
Mean
C.D. (P = 0.05)
Genotype = 0.56;
Environment= 0.36; G x E Interaction= 1.2
Table.2 Effect of genotype and planting time on days taken to flowering
Genotypes
CPG
Fidelio
Punjab Lemon
Delight
Punjab Flame
Red Beauty
Punjab Pink
Elegance
Sylvia
Punjab Glance
Red Advance
Jacksonville
Gold
Rose Supreme
Suchitra
Mean
10 Oct
110.73
97.86
25 Oct
118.53
106.06
Planting time
10 Nov
25 Nov
117.6
117.73
110.4
122.66
10 Dec
109.73
123.33
Mean
114.86
112.06
91.59
128.46
92.59
101
125.46
108.59
107.16
112.26
109.59
103.06
108.99
104.8
96.15
108.05
93.35
99.79
116.64
101.78
81.6
112.8
77.12
109.39
99.66
116.19
93.73
122.54
103.33
118.4
99.06
118.46
104
120.40
92.13
109.33
89.93
112.04
84.66
104.72
95.70
115.97
89.34
112.89
113.93
101.99
101.39
101.62
115.6
97
94.93
108.27
109.29
81.7
95.62
106.91
111.92
76.89
87.24
104.93
103.79
78.06
84.38
97.30
110.91
87.13
92.71
-
149
Table.3 Effect of genotypes and planting time on spike length (cm)
Genotypes
CPG
Fidelio
Punjab Lemon
Delight
Punjab Flame
Red Beauty
Punjab Pink
Elegance
Sylvia
Punjab Glance
Red Advance
Jacksonville
Gold
Rose Supreme
Suchitra
Mean
C.D (P = 0.05)
Environment
10 Nov
25 Nov
66.45
62.35
64.88
61.89
74.35
71.23
10 Oct
76.98
76.46
84.36
25 Oct
75.45
74.87
83.88
100.35
82.55
85.66
97.68
80.98
84.98
88.48
70.45
75.58
76.34
82.67
74.99
75.64
75.47
81.88
73.41
75.02
66.54
73.45
64.73
66.56
74.99
73.23
83.45
82.88
81.20
79.97
Genotype = 4.49;
10 Dec
61.78
60.44
70.89
Mean
68.60
67.71
76.94
84.19
65.47
71.99
83.52
64.33
70.42
90.84
72.76
77.73
62.39
70.98
60.89
63.98
61.99
69.34
59.45
62.35
68.55
75.66
66.69
68.71
63.44
60.49
59.34
66.30
72.98
68.78
67.66
75.15
70.65
67.05
65.95
Environment = 2.90; G x E Interaction = 10.05
Table.4 Effect of genotype and planting time on floret size (cm)
Genotypes
CPG
Fidelio
Punjab Lemon
Delight
Punjab Flame
Red Beauty
Punjab Pink
Elegance
Sylvia
Punjab Glance
Red Advance
Jacksonville
Gold
Rose Supreme
Suchitra
Mean
C.D. (P = 0.05)
Planting time
10 Nov
25 Nov
8.63
8.23
9.33
9.66
8.37
8.31
10 Oct
8.18
8.20
7.88
25 Oct
8.08
8.43
7.98
8.45
8.71
8.48
7.33
9.38
7.96
8.41
9.50
8.58
7.83
9.31
9.28
7.10
7.91
8.66
7.81
6.88
8.34
8.65
8.37
8.23
8.69
8.11
Genotype = 0.4;
10 Dec
8.21
7.41
8.43
Mean
8.27
8.61
8.19
8.40
8.75
7.85
7.88
8.91
8.78
8.09
9.05
8.33
8.26
8.91
9.79
7.25
7.68
8.70
9.83
7.67
8.00
8.65
9.51
8.69
7.94
8.85
9.24
7.51
8.31
8.08
8.62
8.21
8.00
8.44
8.09
7.90
8.37
8.24
8.26
_
Environment = 0.27; G x E Interaction = 0.96
150
Table.5 Effect of genotypes and planting time on number of florets per spike
Genotypes
CPG
Fidelio
Punjab Lemon
Delight
Punjab Flame
Red Beauty
Punjab Pink
Elegance
Sylvia
Punjab Glance
Red Advance
Jacksonville
Gold
Rose Supreme
Suchitra
Mean
C.D. (P = 0.05)
Planting time
10 Nov
25 Nov
14.86
14.80
12.66
9.66
11.33
9.06
10 Oct
9.66
10.20
8.86
25 Oct
11.40
10.66
11.26
16.00
12.66
15.46
15.00
14.53
16.13
14.00
16.40
14.60
12.00
10.20
12.93
8.00
10.20
11.60
12.06
11.26
12.80
13.60
14.40
12.06
12.45
13.26
11.51
11.96
11.66
12.44
Genotype = 0.88;
10 Dec
14.80
7.33
7.38
Mean
13.10
10.10
9.58
13.23
13.73
11.46
13.00
12.63
12.53
14.24
13.99
14.04
12.33
12.53
14.00
7.07
13.80
12.74
11.33
8.22
12.22
12.13
12.94
9.32
14.33
11.20
11.88
12.62
14.63
12.23
11.90
12.44
13.80
11.77
11.46
_
Environment = 0.57; G x E Interaction = 1.97
The results show that the cv. Punjab Pink
Elegance produced the maximum number of
florets under 10th October and 25th October
planting (15.46 and 16.13 respectively).
Under 10th November planting cv. Red
Beauty (16.40) produced maximum florets
per spike which is at par with cv. CPG
(14.86). Cultivar CPG produced maximum
florets under 25th November and 10th
December planting (14.80 and 14.80
respectively).The minimum numbers of
florets were produced in cv. Jacksonville
Gold under 10th October and 25th November
planting (8.00 and 7.07 respectively).
Cultivar Punjab Flame produced minimum
number of florets under 10th November and
10th December planting (11.26 and 6.83
respectively).
florets were in cv. Jacksonville Gold (9.32)
which is at par with cv. Punjab Lemon
Delight (9.58).
The result indicates that the number of
florets ranges from 10.94 to 13.57 under
different environments. The maximum
number of florets was recorded under 10th
November planting (13.57) which differs
significantly from 10th October planting
(12.09). Last planting on 10th December
produced minimum number of florets per
(10.94/spike). Arora and Sandhu (1987)
reported more number of florets under late
planting (1st November planting) than in
early planting.
The result of interaction shows that the
number of florets in twelve genotypes under
five environment ranges from 6.83 to 16.40.
Cultivar Red Beauty produced highest
number of florets under 25th November
planting (16.40) followed by cv. Punjab
Pink Elegance under 25th October planting
The number of florets in twelve genotypes
ranges from 9.32 to 14.04. Cultivar Punjab
Pink Elegance showed the highest number
of florets (14.04) which is at par with cv.
Red Beauty (13.99). The lowest numbers of
151
(16.13). The lowest number of florets was
recorded in cv. Punjab Flame under 10th
December planting (6.83).
Pasannavar, R. 1994. Evaluation of elite
cultivars of gladiolus for cut flower
production under transitional tract of
Karnataka. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis,
University of Agricultural Sciences,
Dharwad.
Saini, R.S., Gupta, A.K., Yamdagni, R.
1988. Effect of planting time on the
flowering and cormel production of
gladiolus. South Ind. Hort., 36(5): 248
251.
Sidhu, G.S. 1989. Variability of genotypes
of gladiolus due to environments. M.Sc
Thesis, Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana.
Singh, A.K., Singh, O.P., Gupta, S.R. 2000.
Genetic variability and character
association in gladiolus. Adv. Plant Sci.,
13(1): 39 42.
The results show that variety Punjab Flame,
Punjab Pink Elegance and Red Beauty were
the best varieties in terms of florets count
per spike. As the floral parameters in term of
spike length, rachis length and florets per
spike are related with plant height. The more
number of florets on a spike are obtained
from the varieties which were taller and
having longest spike. In the present study it
was observed that Punjab Lemon Delight,
Fidelio and Jacksonville Gold gave the
lowest floret counts under December
planting. While we compare the results for
this parameter, it was observed that floret
number reduced significantly in December
planting as compared with October and
November planting. This might be due to the
reduced plant height and spike length under
late plantings. These results are in close
conformity with the findings of Saini et al
(1988) and Sidhu (1989).
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of fifteen gladiolus cultivars. Punjab
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152